Also tef, taff, erron. thaff, theff. [a. Amharic ṭêf, ṭiêf, Tigré ṭâf, native names in Abyssinia.] The principal cereal of Abyssinia, Poa (Eragrostis) abyssinica, producing minute red or white grains from which bread is made; introduced elsewhere as a fodder plant. Also attrib.
1790. J. Bruce, Trav. Source Nile, V. 77. Teff is used by all sorts of people from the king downwards, and there are kinds of it which are esteemed fully as much as wheat.
1797. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), XVIII. 333/e. There are three kinds of meal made from teff, of which the best … is as white as flour,… the second is of a browner colour; and the last … is nearly black.
1858. Hogg, Veg. Kingd., 823.
1887. Kew Bulletin, Jan. 2–6. Ibid. (1894), Nov., 378. A slender annual grass, known in Abyssinia as ‘Taff,’ ‘Ttheff,’ or ‘Thaff’ … cultivated for the sake of its grain all over Abyssinia…. According to Richard there are green, white, red, and purple Teffs.
